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A rendering of the project underway at 225 Centre St. in Jackson Square.

By Matt Rocheleau, Town Correspondent

The city will host a ceremonial groundbreaking this month for the first component of a multi-phase, $250,000 million redevelopment plan in Jackson Square.

Mayor Thomas M. Menino will join other local leaders and development officials on May 12 to celebrate the recent start of construction at 225 Centre St., according to the city's website.

The project at that site calls for a building that would house 103 rental housing units along with 16,000 square feet of retail, officials have said. Construction at 225 Centre St. has been projected previously at about $50 million.

It is the largest project proposed within the 14-building, Jackson Square Redevelopment Initiative a master plan conceived by residents and city officials one decade ago to revitalize a key crossroads between Jamaica Plain and Roxbury, steps from the Jackson Square MBTA station.

The square, where Columbus Avenue and Centre Street intersect, was among the areas that suffered after demolitions decades ago to make room for a planned extension of Interstate 95. After a public outrcy, the addition was never built.

The grand scheme to revitalize Jackson Square was developed through 10 years of community planning led by hundreds of local residents, city and state officials, project developers and three nonprofits that comprise Jackson Square Partners – the Jamaica Plain Neighborhood Development Corporation, Urban Edge and the Hyde Square Task Force.

The plan calls for building properties with a mix of uses, including commercial, retail, rental and ownership housing, green space, indoor recreation and parking.

The various projects are planned to be built using a mix of city, state, federal and private funding.

Last fall, the JPNDC unveiled a four-story, 44,700 square-foot building next to the Jackson Square redevelopment area. That $15-million project added 30 affordable apartments and 6,000 square feet of ground-floor retail space.

Bart Mitchell, president of development company The Community Builders, Inc., state Housing and Economic Development Secretary Gregory Bialecki, state Representative Jeffrey Sánchez, and MassHousing director Thomas R. Gleason are scheduled to attend the 11 a.m. groundbreaking on Sat., May 12.

E-mail Matt Rocheleau at mjrochele@gmail.com.
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